MIAMI - The Rev. D. James Kennedy, a fiercely conservative megachurch pastor who was a key architect in the rise of the religious right and whose preaching against homosexuality and abortion made him one of its most divisive figures, has died. He was 76.

Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church spokeswoman Kristin Cole said Kennedy died early Wednesday at his home in Fort Lauderdale.

He had not been seen in public since he suffered from cardiac arrest Dec. 28. His retirement was announced last month.

Kennedy's voice and face were known to millions through radio and TV broadcasts beamed around the world. In them, he epitomized the most conservative positions of the Christian right: not only vehement condemnation of gays and abortion, but disbelief in evolution and global warming....

Not before the damage was done. He was a part of the conservative christian vitriol that demonized gays and same-sex marriage on his megachurch pulpit on a regular basis.

Makes one wonder. If he was so much in god's favor, why did god plan Kennedy's end in such away? Why not allow his dirt nap to fall softly on a bed of leaves? Why instead would god make his final landing six feet under filled with one suffering, jagged edge? Surely, this is not the fitting end for the star headed toward the kingdom of heaven.